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I punched in the code for the gate and drove in instantly, parked beside the garage, and headed to the front door. As I pressed the doorbell, I wondered if I should have called first—but that might have tipped Dad off, and I didn’t want him to plan a story and spin it to me.
Mom answered the door in cool lounge clothes but wrapped a cardigan tighter over her torso. “Ethan. I didn’t know you were coming.”
“That’s why it's called a surprise, Mom,” I smiled. “Where’s Dad? Can you get him for me? We all need to talk.”
Her expression shifted. “Sounds serious. What is it about?”
I held back a grimace. “Mom, please just get Dad. I don’t want to talk about it twice.”
She was getting worried; I could see it, but she nodded instead of pressing the issue. “I’ll get him. We’ll meet you at the sunroom.”
While she went off, I took the stairs to the solarium and instantly went to the window. Gazing out at the wide landscape around us, the verdant lawn, and the forestry below, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned as they both walked in, my dad already frowning.
“Ethan? Why is your mom upset and confused?” he asked. “Why the sudden visit?”
“Did you know about a romance between Victor Vega and Sarah Sullivan?” I asked directly. “You know all the family history, so why didn’t you tell me about that?”
“Because there was no such thing,” Dad said calmly. “Why would you even ask such a thing?”
“Because I found Sarah Sullivan’s locket amongst Victor’s things,” I replied. “Actually, Mia found it because she found a record of it in Sarah’s diary.”
Dad rolled his eyes and fiddled with his watch—a sign I had picked up years ago that told me he was lying. “Foolishness.”
“You’re lying,” I told him. “I know when you deflect, Dad. You’ve got too many tells, and I know them all. Either it happened, or somethinglikethat happened, and you know about it, but you don’t want to tell me.”
“Ethan—” Mom stepped forward, but Dad cut her off.
“Where is this coming from?” he demanded. “What has gotten you so up in arms about a silly little rumor?”
A silly little rumor… so he does know.
“Because I’m dating Mia,” I said plainly. I nearly said,I love Mia, but that was a little too much to add. I had already cut Dad deeply; no need to add salt to the wound.
Dad’s face went as hard as flint. “You’d betray our family like this?”
“Stop, Dad, just stop!” It was the first time since I was a teen that I raised my voice at him. “Stop with all this nonsense. Stop with all this,oursortheirs, mentality. It’s past the point where this silly feud ended. I don’t know why it started, but best, believe me, I will end it! It's petty, it's juvenile, and frankly, I had hoped you’d been a better man about it and called it off only to know you kept at it.
“You deliberately allowed the notice about the storage facility to get to Sullivan late so his wine would spoil and then made me think he had sabotaged you by forcing you to pay three times to get our mead delivered,” I told him, oddly feeling nothing much when his face paled. “And I know you’re going to tell me Sullivan did something before that, but I damn well know if I dig far enough, I will find that you did something first, or your father did it of his father did it—but I don’t care.”
“You cannot abandon your family for a—a—” Dad stuttered.
“Sullivan?” I asked calmly. “The enemy?”
“Yes,” he blurted.
“Well, I’m sorry,” I turned to the door. “It’s already done, and I’m not going to apologize for it. Please call me when you decide to join the present century, Dad, and get over old grudges.”
I left.
I was not proud of it, though, and my gut twisted the thought that I might have alienated my dad over something I was not sure was concrete… one thing was for sure, though—he knew about Victor and Sarah.
He knew, but not once had he said a word.
“Jesus Christ, denial is a hell of a thing,” I said through gritted teeth. “How bad could it be to dismiss the truth and hold onto a grudge just for a grudge’s sake.”
As I was winding way down the hills, Benji called.
“Benji, what’s up?”
